Sound Plus good enough?

Can't really afford to upgrade to the Bose Surrond Sound Sytem. Is the Sound Plus system decent? Please say yes!

The sound enthusiasts will get on to me but I seldom turn on the Bose when in the Cayman. This may be a result of hearing loss but I like to think of it as total enjoyment of being one with the beast. I used to think I needed an Ipod connection but no more. If cost is an issue I say feel free to ignore the Bose unless you must have backgound noise other than the wonderful sounds of the Cayman at play. (I have not heard the non- Bose option by the way.)

I have many options and Bose is the one I was least enthusiatic about. There is absolutely no need to add a sub-woofer. It cannot compete with the beautiful sound of the engine.

Okay, okay, I realise the flat-6 is the most beautiful noise of all, but if I want to listen to something else....

You must be single... Some others with real experience will be along soon I'm sure.

If you are an audiophile buy a different car. Regardless what audio you buy with the Cayman, it simply can not be listened to its full potential. Save your money and get the standard audio. Then change the "Channel" to Porsche's flat 6 symphony!:cheers:

You guys are funny. I totally agree though about the flat-6 overwhelming any other 'music'

the sound package plus is much more upgradable ( at least inexpensively and easily ) than the bose . In my last Cayman with the SPP i was always thinking about how I could make the sound better. With the Bose , the sound is adequate, but I have to keep adjusting the bass and trebble and surround settings depending on what source or music im listening to (sat radio, ipod , etc, etc). However I no longer think about upgrading the system. - Suneet

I was really bothered by the lack of iPod /sat radio connectivity and the inability to do upgrades when I bought my CS, as I had a really nice aftermarket stereo in my prior S2000 . I also didn't buy into the "listen to the engine" line, but when I hit the twisties now, what do I find myself doing? My wife says she knows I'm about to do some serious driving when I turn the radio off! I have the Bose , and its sound quality is pretty decent if nothing to write home about. I'm happy to have it, though, since I suspect it's the best available on the Cayman, and after-the-fact upgrades aren't easy or cheap.

Sound Package Plus is suboptimal at best, but as Suneet states is more easily modified. Just finished installing 4" rears and tweaking the crossover points . Still too midrange heavy, and tinny sound, but better if faded to the better rears. Porsche original speakers are poor, and getting into the doors is my next project to swap out the midranges to soft domes. We'll see... Overall, I gather the Bose isn't worth it, but have not heard it myself. Stick with the SPP and break out your soldering iron!

Very few, if any true audiophiles will "get on to you" for underselling BOSE. The general audiophile opinion of their product is that you pay lots of money for lots of marketing and very little sound quality. In my Audis the BOSE system sounds worse than the stock system by a fair margin, in the Cayman it's certainly no better IMHO. I opted for Sound Plus, which is good enough until I upgrade to a decent aftermarket system, and as others have pointed out, that's easier and less costly to do when you DON'T have BOSE.

I think Daniel's advice is spot on. I would add one more item, make sure you drive while listening to the radio, you need the sound of the wind and engine to get a real taste. As for me, I chose option 3, and will be upgrading the SPP with new amplification and speakers in the next 90 days.

I think it is decent for a small car. I have two very nice speaker setups in my home and have had very extensive car audio setups in the past so I'm aware of good sound, but in a loud car like the CS I really don't mind the standard system. I actually wish the car was louder - if I wasn't saving for a wedding I would be thinking of a aftermarket exhaust !

OK, let me try to contribute to the thread. First, I would like to offer my background. I have been working in the '12 Volt' industry since 1986. Back then, I was selling car audio. Before long I moved my way to the install bay and ended up spending about 8 years installing. In that time, I became known as the guy to take your high end car to if you wanted a really good system. In 1990, I became the first MECP Master Certified Installer East of the Mississippi River, and held the highest test score in the country. That lead to show and competition vehicles, custom work, and so on. I spent many years creating and installing sonically superior car audio systems and developed quite an ear during those years. I had the same question in my head as you do. In my experience, BOSE systems were all 'boom-sizzle' and sounded terrible. So I wasn't even considering it. Not to mention that I work for a company that makes several good audio lines and have access to those products at insanely low prices. So I was planning on going with SPP and upgrading with our products. Then beez told me I really should listen to the BOSE system . So, I burned a disc full of all the tracks I used to use to test frequency response, imaging, SPL and so on. The day I ordered my Cayman, I did a side by side comparison between BOSE and SPP. Here is what I thought. Sound Package Plus: SPP sounded better than I was expecting, considering the numerous posts I've read here stating that it's 'rubbish'. But I found that if you grab a hand full of volume, the system's limitations become clear real fast. At those higher outputs, you can clearly hear the speakers starting to distort and strain in the mid-low frequencies. Low frequencies in general are weak at all volumes. At the higher volumes, I could clearly hear intermodular distortion. That's when the amplifiers attempts to make bass zaps all of the power out of the shared power supply which brings the tweeters and midranges crashing down. That's about the worst distortion you can have. So the SPP definitely needs some upgrading if sound is important to you. BOSE The BOSE really surprised me. It didn't sound like the BOSE systems of the past with loose sloppy low bass, over bright tweeters, no midrange or mid bass. Instead the mid bass was fast and tight. The low bass was, well, low, and quite powerful. Probably a bit exaggerated, but messing with the settings can get you closer to a flat curve. For my ear, there was too much midrange, and no obvious way to reduce it (no mid control in the head). Then I went for a little SPL test (sound pressure level). I selected a techno track. This track will exploit the weaknesses of any speaker and exert more demand on the system than any type of music. The system performed way beyond my expectations. Old BOSE systems could not deliver at higher levels and would typically not stay true to Fletcher/Munson curves. This one did. And it lit the interior up with sound without any sonic distress or complaint. Even the 30hz lows were hard, fast and tight. My girlfriend was reaching for the door handle, as if something bad was going to happen because it was so loud and the bass was so powerful. I was gently pushing the limits looking for the point where I might hear it start to distort. I didn't reach that point before I backed off and decided that the BOSE was for me. Again, too much mid range for my ear. But it did everything else so well, that I just can't see taking a screw driver to the car and compromising it's integrity with aftermarket products when the BOSE system gets so close to great for only about $800 more than SPP (I was already ordering floor mats, self dim mirrors, heated seats, etc... So going with the Preferred Package got me BOSE and colored wheel crests for about $860 more). Don't get me wrong. Give me an adequate budget and I will build you a better system. But that budget would be quite high and the gain would be minimal and unrealistic. Especially because this is a car in which many owners have said that they love the mechanical sounds so much that they rarely even use the stereo. For me, I want a system that can overpower those sounds in the event that I am on a long trip and want a break from them. The Cayman is not a quiet car. I think the SPP will struggle with that task. The BOSE system, that thing will definitely overpower the mechanical sounds if needed. Because everyone has a different ear, I suggest you do the same thing I did. Burn up a compilation of favorites and do a side by side. If you want, I'd be happy to send some cool test tracks on a disc. You've come this far, buying a Cayman I mean. Listen to them both and make sure you don't make a bad decision.

Gator Bite, When you get your car, I'd like to know what levels you end up choosing for the Bose system for bass, treble, surround, etc. I'm having trouble finding a balanced sound right now that I will like with all the different types of music I listen to. - Suneet

Suneet, Yeah, I hope I can find that balance. I may actually pull the door panels and add some attenuation to the mids, to see if I can pull that midrange down a little bit. I am not a big fan of surround. It just isn't sonically correct and sometimes adds weird transients. Question: By what measure is the clarity of an amplifier measured and judged? Answer: THD or Total Harmonic Distortion. CEA ratings dictate that an amplifier with less than 1% THD across it's usable frequency range is clean. Truthfully, most ears can't hear less than 3%. None the less, arguably, the best amplifiers of the last 20 years were early 90's Precision Power Art Series, boasting 0.02% THD at rated output. Surround sound messes with so many harmonics that if you actually measured THD with surround on, it would come in a like 30+%. I don't like it. I can hear the unnatural harmonics that the surround system is trying to use to convince your ear that the sound image is different than it is (Psycho Acoustic Phenomenon). I am not yet speaking from experience, but I would recommend you try turning all of the surround settings off and see if you can find a better mix for your music. Once you learn the system without surround, then you can start playing with it again. If you have an ear for sonic purity, I think you will end up staying away from the surround. I know I will.

I rarely use the surround option for that reason. The system ( bose ) sounds so much better when its not competing with the interior cabin noise from the flat 6. I have come to the conclusion that the stereo system simply cant compete with internal engine noises and reserved myself to the fact that when I do take long treks in the car the radio listening experience will not be what I am accustomed to. My wife has an acura TL and I find the dvd audio quality in her vehicle so much better, but then again its an extremely quiet interior that competes with little if any road noise.

Gator Bite, I know what you mean by hearing impurities when listening to the surround mix, I have this exact issue when I listen to satellite radio or ipod , there's a channel (typically a rear one) that puts out random drones\buzzes. I have surround off on all inputs except for FM, which for some reason is clearer and has less interference on surround... For some songs I really do like surround because it seems to separate the vocals to the center of the stage; but leaving it off is probably better; the music wasn't recorded in a surround studio and is meant to be listened to in stereo. I've found a pretty nifty setting in the PCM , when you hit audio and then set, you can set a listening position, left\center\right. When I'm alone I get a much better sound field when I set to left. - Suneet

Very well said in post #16, Gator Bite. I too am a bit of an audiophile, and hang around over at the AVS Forum more than I do here, and I have to say that once it was dialed in, I was pleasantly surprised with the Bose system . As a side note, there was a recent thread there about Bose Car Audio systems, and while there are the usual Bose Bashers, there were quite a few posts from industry pros (a writer for Stereophile, a president of a well respected hi-end speaker company) that spoke well of the Bose systems in their cars. It really does vary from car to car. There is a thread somewhere here about setting the Bass levels, and for me, that was key to getting a good, non-boomy sound with most content. I typically run the bass level anywhere from -5 to -8, content dependent. I will boost the treble perhaps from +1 to +3. As for the surround setting, I find that I like it on Low, but with the fader biased to the front...about +6, otherwise, it seems that the rears contribute way too much. Balanced that way, the front soundstage is actually quite good. Of course, we are talking about Bose here, right? No amount of positive testimonials is going to get anyone that is predisposed to hating Bose to come around. But your point about being able to do better only after spending big $$$$ says it all. Brian

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why need an audio when flat 6 + tubi catback can sing much better?

"...I just can't see taking a screw driver to the car and compromising it's integrity with aftermarket products when the BOSE system gets so close to great for only about $800 more than SPP (I was already ordering floor mats, self dim mirrors, heated seats, etc... So going with the Preferred Package got me BOSE and colored wheel crests for about $860 more)." Gator Bite: Thanks for the great detailed write-up (#16). I ended up ordering the BOSE as part of one of the Preferred Packages with a similar thought; it made more sense to order the package and get the BOSE for the nominal difference. Now that I've read your comparo I'm really glad I ordered the entire package. Regards

Gator Bite I'm interested in the door panels, as I'll likely replace the drivers while there and adding non-inductive resistors at the same time. Have searched the site, and even the famous speed yellow K-man hasn't done the door panels that I know of. A Porsche tech on ******** said the Cayman's panels are not your average bear, so I've held off thus far. If I dive in first, I too, will take some pics for the group. BTW, hope your wait is over soon!

Actually a common criticism of Bose is not lack of bass or treble which is what most people look for. Its that there will be a specific range at which sound is not well produced or is omitted, this is often actually lower than the tweeters and above the midrange speakers. Or between the bottom of the midrange and the top of the subwoofer.

I would just like to say that when deciding on my options I took a CD along and listened to both an upgraded sound system and the BOSE . I found the BOSE was excellent and the upgraded was not as good as the base system in my Honda S2000 . That made my decision simple, get the BOSE as I like to listen to music when having a long motorway drive just cruising.

I agree with Gator Bite completely. I personally am a huge audiophile and have a wonder home theater setup, have always tried for the best I could put into a car or home... BUT....since I bought the CS, I rarely say 5-10% of the time listen to the radio or CDs. I know now what the boards were talking about. I do have the Bose option, which sounds adequate to good to my ears...just not as good a the exhaust note. Ken

I was not thrilled with the Bose option on the cars I demoed and ordered my car with sound package plus. I picked up my car on Friday and have been pleasantly surprised! It is a nice system and will hold me until I decide to upgrade the speakers and amplifiers. It will cost me more than the bose to upgrade, but it will be worth it.